News from the Library of Congress

March 8, 2004

Library of Congress Joins Celebration of La Francophonie with Special Presentation

The John W. Kluge Center and the European Division of the Library of Congress in association with the Embassy of Canada present "Les Heritiers de Champlain/Champlain’s Descendants" from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, March 22, in Room LJ 119 of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C. The program, which is free and open to the public, is in English.

In March 1604, Samuel de Champlain (1567-1635) established North America’s first French colony in Acadia. In "Les Heritiers de Champlain/Champlain’s Descendants," Canadian writer and storyteller Louis Caron and French photographer Francois Poche present a conference-spectacle about the history and current state of French settlement in North America. Using modern technology, Caron enters into a theatrical dialogue with a virtual Samuel Champlain in a discussion of Champlain’s original vision of a French America and the reality of French settlement 400 years later. Photographs taken by Poche, who recently retraced and documented Champlain’s voyages, constitute part of the presentation. This educational and entertaining program is part of a monthlong international celebration of French-speaking communities throughout the world called la Francophonie.

A generous endowment from John W. Kluge in 2000 enabled the Library of Congress to establish the John W. Kluge Center to bring together the world’s best thinkers to stimulate, energize and distill wisdom from the Library’s rich resources and to interact with policymakers in Washington. For information about the fellowships, grants and programs offered by the John W. Kluge Center, contact the Office of Scholarly Programs, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, DC 20540-4860; telephone (202) 707-3302, fax (202) 707-3595, or visit the Web at www.loc.gov/kluge.